Contour pattern scanner

ABSTRACT

A FINGERPRINT SCANNER CHOPS IMAGES WITH A NOTCHED DISK GEARED TO ROTATE AND ORBIT. THE BASIC ELECTRICAL CHOPPER OUTPUT IS SINUSOIDAL. SEVERAL PARALLEL LINES SUCH AS PRINT RIDGES YIELD A HIGHER FREQUENCY SUPERIMPOSED ON THE REGULAR FREQUENCY.

W. K. FRENCH CONTOUR PATTERN SCANNER Feb. 23, 1971 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 14, 1967 aim.

INVLNOR. WALTER K. FRENCH ATTORNEY 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 14, 1967 FIG.2

FIG.4

Feb, 23, 41971 I w K FRENCH 3,566,354

CONTOUR PATTERN SCANNER Filed July 14, 1967 I5 Sheets-Sheet 5 ANGLE oF/ 4 .L

NOTCH SIDE 4B ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A fingerprint scanner chops images with a notched disk gearedto rotate and orbit. The basic electrical chopper outputis sinusoidal. Several parallel lines' such as print ridges `yield 'a higher frequency superimposed on the regu'- lar freduencv.

f BACKGROUND 0F THE INVETION i ield of the invention pattern, resortis often made to some central reference` 4point 'to which the other characteristics of,vg the pattern are related" in some predetermined manner. It-is desirable that a system suchas the one of the present invention be. employed to f ind distinctions somewhatgindependent of any central reference point and'rely more assuredly on a wholejseries of slope determining factorj's of the pattern which'altogehter form a more reliable method of making adeteifmination of an identity. A SUMMARY OF INVENTION- This` invention is directed to the identification of con-- tour fidges by the generation of distinctive electronic waveforms representative of ridge slopes and angles at one ymore spots over an over-all desi'gn, which waveformsvjfare suitable for computer analysis and rapid determination of identity of persons, contous or topological featuies. Thejprinciple of scanning inj'olved is optical reflection beam scanning at constantly but uniformly, changing angles as created by a chopping disk which is not oiily notched for regular light modulation and inter,- ruptidh but also mounted as an orbital member in av system of epicyclic gearing suspended' over the contour print toi-be scanned and placed'intermediate a lens system and a photoelectric sensing system. The simple scanning apparatus and method involved here comprises use of epicyclic gearing wherein the center sun gear isformed at its center with a circular aperture through which the contour ridge image is projected'. Over this aperture there pass the notches of a chopping'disk, such notches 3 Claims` Patented Feb. 23, 1971 chopping disk rotates over a fixed ring gear and orbits around the central aperture as the sun gear is driven by a-motor. When one takes a perfectly circular aperture and periodically chopsfthe light passing therethrough by means of a shutter of thesame width as the aperture and having straight shutter sides, the integral of the passed light is sinusoidal at the periodic frequency. Should there by several parallel darkened line of different optical density in the field of view of the aperture suchas contour ridge .lines or fingerpriilit ridge lines, and if these lines are parallel to the straightl shutter sides, then there will be several cycles of, higher frequency superimposed upon being of straight-walled sides and equal in width to the the periodic waveform. An outstanding feature of this invention is the principle of creating higher frequency pulse outputs when the slope of contour ridges coincides with the particular angle of the passing shutter notches.

The scanner comprises a lens array which focuses 'optical chopper, and a sensor array such as a series of photocells related fto the lens array. The scanning head comprises a central circular aperture and an optical chopping disk mountedA with a planetaryV pinion associated with a planetary gear system and a motor for driving the system and coordinating the detector or sensing means for taking @if an electrical signal proportional to the position of the sun gear upon which the chopper is mounted. The motor turns the planetary gear assembly so that the entir" assembly rotates aboutthe central aperture where the pivot of the sun gear normally would be. The chopper periodically chops the image coming throughthe aperture and this chopping will' occurl at all angles sequentiallyzas the planetary assembly is rotated.I

This higher frquency output indication may be used` in avariety of ways. One way is to average the output of a plurality of sensors, covering the entire contour print of fingerprint thus obtaining a general angular orientation foil the fingerprint. Another way is to simply plot the ridge directions and/or their perpendiculars for the purpose of characterizing. the print. Still another wayY is yto scan a limited area or areas in the vicinity of aline ending or bifurcation to determine its validity.

An objectof invention `is to provide a simple but sophisticated optrfal analyzer fora data recording such as a character image, contour print, topological map of fingerprint. f

It is another object of the present inventionv to provide a scanning mechanism for optically reading recorded data from all angles with a single scanning member.

It is another object of the present invention to so control a straight 'line chopper in movement past a circular aperture asto'produce a fundamental filterable electrical wave frequency and higher -frequencies wherever there are detected straight line discontinuities or parallel ridge lines in the field of view which have the same angle as the straight line chopper.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a negative right angle figure chopper which is capable of detecting a positive figure in the field of view by the presence of higher frequency outputs whenever the gures line up.

A further object of this invention is to provide a system of contour pattern or fingerprint identification which relies on one or more determinations of line slope in such a print, independently of any reference point lon a` contour print or fingerprint.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a system wherein one or a plurality of optically scanned areas `may be selectively determined to be used to derive optical angle and slope information to identify a contour line source or document.

Since it is the pattern itself which the apparatus of the present invention operates upon in a broad range of applications, contour patterns shall he defined herein to mean generally curved patterns of lines on a surface without particular reference to what the lines may happen' to be or what the pattern may happen to represent.

Yet another o'bject of the invention is to provide such means capable of identifying which of a known plurality of contour patterns the tested pattern is or is mostV nearly equal.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of a preferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a sectional elevation view of the entire scanning mechanism.

FIG. 2 is a sectional plan view taken along line 2`-2y in FIG. 1 and showing the planetary gearing drive for the light chopping disk. l p

FIG. 3 is a detail view showing afingerprint line ending to illustrate the analysis of slopes of ridges adjacent to said line ending.

FIG. 4 is a detail view showing a fingerprint on a source document.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic perspective view showing the sensors, the light aperture and chopping mechanism and the lens system superimposed over a source document.

FIG. 6 isI a showing of an electrical output wherein the basic low frequency is filtered and there remains the showing of the high frequency signals spaced with relation to a diagram of ridge lines to illustrate the relation of high frequency signals to the detection of the slope of corresponding parallel ridge lines.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The sectional elevation view of FIG. 1 illustrates the principal parts of the apparatus and the manner in which the parts are connected to scan a contour pattern and derive therefrom a waveform distinction for every different contour print.

In FIG. 1 a casing 20 has a base 21 upon which are slide guides 22 for confining an inserted contour pattern map, document or fingerprint record 23. Insteadof readinga document 23, a glass plate of a similarshape may be inserted over a base opening 24 and a fingertip 25 placed directly against the glass to be scanned'ldirectly instead of via the record 23. A,

Casing 20 is formedk with atop section 26 and a center shelf 27 from which thereis `suspended a bracket shelf array of nine lenses 29 arranged in regular rows and columns of three aroundv the center aligned with the center of the document 23 and the center of a circular 4 cells 32 arranged in rows and columns of three on the underside of the top section 26.

The arrangement of lenses 29 and photocells 32 is only illustrative for the present embodiment and it is understood that other obvious rearrangements may be made to suit particular scanning problems.

Turning again t0 observation vof the bracket shelf 28, it is seen to be provided with a plurality of illuminating means 33 for directing light against the subject to be scanned at the base. Attached to the bottom of shelf 28 is a pair ofslide guides 34 upon which i,there rests an elongated mask 35 whichis formed with various arrangements of openings 36 to selectively 1expose any one or a combination of the lenses 29 to` select a particular spot or spots of the contour pattern to control the photocell output. Byl sliding the elongated mask 35 either manually or automatically across the lensarray 29, it is possible to select a particular lens opening or series of such openings to control the desired range of scanning to be vemployedf'fo'i' the'particular identification problem at hand.

Now reference may be made to both FIGS. l, and 2 to see how a single epicyclic or planetary geared optical chopper disk 46 is advantageously arranged and employed togeneratel distinctive high frequency electrical pulse variations representative of changes of angle and slope of contour pattern ridges or lines. A motor M is mounted on the inside of the casing 20 with a shaft 38 thereof projecting vertically through the center shelf 27 and carrying a drive gear 37 mounted near the end of the shaft and operatingfin a plane directly above the surface'of the shelf 27.1Drive gear 37 meshes 4'with the teeth on the periphery lof a large sun gear 31 resting upon shelf 27.

'28 attached to the underside'b'f shelf 27 and containing an A Because of the need for the central opening or aperture 30 vto be formed at what is ordinarily the axis shaft position for sl'uch a sun gear 31, there is provided a novel method of centralizing and supporting the sun gear 31 in the vform of a series of distributed idler gears 39, 40 and 41 spaced equally in quadrature in addition Ato the drive gear 37, equally around the circumference of the sun gear 31. Each of the idlers 39, 40 and 41 is mounted on vertical shafts projecting upwardly from the center shelf 27 and merely performs the function of holding the sun gear 31 centrally and' fully responsive` to the drive from the motor M. It is noted from FIG. 2 that the circular aperture 30 is formed in the center of the sun gear 31 and is directly aligned over the central one of the nine lenses 29. The same is true of the alignment with respect to the photocells 32 shown in FIG. 5 where it is sen that the central one of the array of nine cells 32 is aligned directly above the center of the circular aperture 3'0.

Reference to FIG. 1 shows that a hub 49 is arranged on the top side of sun gear 31 and through it there extends a vertical shaft 44 upon which is mounted the chopping disk 46 by means of a pinned hub `45.V0n the underside of the sun.y gear 31, the shaft 44 is seen to be attachedto a planetary or` obital pinion 43 attached to shaft 44 by pinned hub 50. Therefore chopper disc 46 is rotatably mounted eccentrically or orbitally on sun gear 31. The pinion 43 meshes with a circular fixed ring of gear teeth 42 formed around the inside of a hollow center of the shelf 27.

Referring to FIG. 2, it is seen that when the sun gear 31 is driven in a clockwise direction, the chopper shaft 44 is swung around therewith and the disk 46 not onlyorbits around with center 44 but it also rotates rapidly counterclockwise in the lprocess because the fixed ring of teeth 42 engage pinion 43 and turn it counterclockwise as its center moves clockwise. As a result the chopper openings or notches 47 sweep rapidly and successively over the aperture 30 at slowly changing angles. The notch lopening 47 and intermediate disk 'teeth are proportioned to be exactly the same width ars/the aperture opening 30 for creation of a pure vsine ywave of the basic or fundamental electrical output frequency of the scanner which is then iilterable to be cast out so that sole attention may be given to the superimposed high frequency disturbances of parallel contour pattern ridge lines o r darkened lines which are the most edective for disturbance when they are found parallel to the sweeping straight side'edges 48 of the scanner notches. lt is important also that allthe sides dit of all notches a7 be the same straight radial edges or straight edges of some fixed angle because it is in finding parallelism therewith that the contour lines or fingerprint valley lines of darkness cause the greatest degree of high frequency light variation reflected from the print. When such lines are at right angles to the line of attack of the notch slide itil, there is little or no departure or variation frorn'the relatively slow fundamental frenuency of the optical modulation and the resulting electrical pure sine waveform.

Again referring to FIG. 2, it is noted that when the scanning disk de has swept through one-half of its orbit, i.e., found to be on the opposite side of the arrangementy of teeth 42, then the notch sides da will have passed through 180 of sweeping operation in passing over the aperture Sti. Such a sweep of 180 may be taken as the basic scanning period 'after lwhich repetition is usually found when scanning a single area.

ln FIG. l it is to be realized that the light reflected from the source 33 is directed against the document Z3 and directed upwardly through one or more lenses 29 andv through the aperture 3d where the lens images the lingerprint ridge structure in the plane of the aperture chopper.- The focused image is chopped and integrated before passing to one or more of the photocells 32 out of whichl it is carried by a cable 56 to filters, pulse Shapers, and identifying orv recording sections of a computer. In FIG. 6a showing is given to illustrate how the high frequency disturbances 5'7 appearonce the fundamental frequency is liltered out to focus attention upon the critical aspects of the particular contour pattern. To further. illustrate this in FIG. 6 there is shown `an area 6 wherein .fingerprint ridge lines-are shown horizontally, for example, and a whole series of angles are associated therewith which are the angles of attack or angles of the notch side dit as they appear relative to the sweep of 180 of the scanner disk and the consequent high frequency disturbances S7 found whenthere is parallelism at the horizontal lines coincident with the ridge lines, as contrasted with the lack of. disturbance when there is a perpendicular relationship between the ridge lines and the notch sides. v ln lFIG. 4 there is shown a fingerprint record 23 and a characteristic printSi thereon. Also shown in this view is a small circle 5 which is representative of a select area which may be predetermined to be the characteristic most necessary for the identification of the particular print. lnstead of focusing attention on a single area such as 5 of FIG. 4,'it is obvious that another way to utilize the device shown is to average the outputof a number of sensors 33?. covering the entire fingerprint 5l, thus -obtaining an angular sumlorientation for the particular lingerprint. It is also obvious that by the use of the shiftable mask 35, FIG. l, and the selective reading of the photocells 32, there may be originated a sequence of scanning to determine the relative slope angles of a whole sequenc of arcas surrounding a contourl pattern. f

Still another way of utilizing the particular scanning l mode is to scan a limited area in the vicinity of'a selected characteristic such as a line ending or bifurcation to dedetermine its validity'as illustrated in FIG. 3. There it is seen that a print is being scanned in four areas designated by the four ringsl, 2, 3, d, covering a suspected line ending of a ridge 52. Embracing said ridge 52 are the upper and lower ridges 53 and 54 anda lower broken ridge S5. ln the example shown, areas l and 3 generate an output showing no difference in slope whereas areas 2 and d do show a dilerence in slope as the adjacent ridges 53 and 5d close in. The same sort of an output would not be found should the same test be made upon the ridge 55 because here there are simply breaks in the ridge and not the necessary changes in slope indicative of a line ending.'T he reverse of the procedure mentioned with regard to line endings is found in the case of scanning for line bifurcations.

Turning again to FIG. 6 and note taken of the high frequency disturbances 57 found selectively' distributed according .to the areas sensed and according to the line slopes'found in such areas, it is evident that a variety of logical functions in a computer may be performed when once having the slope information at a number of points of'a contour pattern such as a fingerprint. From such a complete array of slope information from all areas one may easily compute points of vorientation, angles of orientation, locate bifurcations and line endings,'count ridges and classify the fingerprint by the basic fingerprint classification system.

While the invention has ben particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, 'it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes inform and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

- What is claimed is:

directing an ection and superimposed high frequency variations thereof at intervals determined by coincidence of the slope of saidngerprint lines with the straight sides of said shutter, said chopping step involving the epicyclic rotation and orbiting of said chopping -member around said aperture for scanning across said pattern at all angles overv a substantial area successively to provide signals indicative of angles of straight lines fandlocations thereof in a fingerprint pattern. 3

2. An optical scanning devicecomprising:

a lens system through which light from a pattern is directed,

a member having an opening therein, said member being movable over a circular aperture with combined rotative and orbital motion so that said opening therein passes at all angles over said aperture, said member comprising a light chopping shutter with a 'straight edge opening 4adapted to sweep past said aperture and modulate the' light from said pattern vpassing therethrough, said member being a rotative planetary member in a system of epicyclic gearing surrounding said aperture, said epicyclic gearing including a driven sun gear upon which said member is eccentricall'y mounted and rotated so that said opening therein sweeps over the aperture which is at the center of said sun gear.

a fixed ring gear Abeing provided adjacent said sun gear and said member having a pinion meshing with said 'ring gear to rotate'it during an'or-bital sweep thereof over said aperture,- said sun 'gear being supported by a plurality of outer idler gears and driven by another outer gear, whereby the axis center of said sun gear is unnecessary for supporting said sun gear thereby permitting said aperture to be located centrally of said sun gear, and

a sensor for sensing and tranducing said modulated 3. An optical scanning device comprising:

a lens system through which light from a pattern is directed, t

a member having an opening therein, said member being movable over a circular aperture with combined rotative and orbital motion so that said opening therein passes at all angles over said aperture, said member is a light chopping disk with a series of straight sided openings and intervals equal in width and spacing between said openings around said disk to the width of said aperture, comprising notches and teeth adapted to sweep past said aperture and vmodulate the light from said pattern passing therethrough, said member being a rotative planetary member in a system of epicyclic gearing surrounding said aperture, said epicyclic gearing including a driven sun gear upon which said member is eccentrically mounted and rotated so that said opening therein sweeps over the aperture which is at the center of said sun gear,

a fixed ring gear being provided adjacent said sun gear and said member having a pinion meshing with said ring gear to rotate itvduring an orbital sweep thereof oversaid' aperture, said sun gear being supported by a` plurality of outer idler gears and driven by another outer gear, whereby the axis of said sun gear 'is unnecessary for supporting said sun gear thereby permitting said aperture to be located centrallyof said sun gear,

a system of sensors for sensing and transducing said modulated light,

scan a particular area or areas of a contour pattern in a desired sequence.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,788,227 1/ 1931 Bentley l78-7.6 2,109,596 3/ 1938 IPlahn 350-169 2,646,717 7 1953 Sel'gin 356--71 2,942,1 18 6/ 1960 Gedance Z50-233x 2,952,181 9/ 1960 Maurer 356-71 3,024,699 3/ 1962 Chitayet Z50-233x 3,072,794 1/ 1963 Ostergren Z50-233x 3,138,712 6/1964 Aroyan S50-274x 3,143,654 -8/ 1964 Aroyan et al. Z50-233 2,243,838 6/ 1941 Cunningham 33--76 3,248,552 4/ 1966 Bryan 340-146.3X l3,366,926 1/1968 Silsby III e`t al. S40-146.3

FOREIGN PATENTS 962,818 7/ 1964 Great Britain 356-71 MAYNARD R. WILBUR, Primary Examiner L. H. BoUDREAuAmismm Examiner 

